The ‘Official Game’ that was unveiled at a local hotel has been developed by the Mindstorm Studios, a local IT firm that specialises in games development. The company has managed to indigenously design, develop, and deliver an officially licensed title over all leading global game development companies.
Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Software Export Board Managing Director Mr. Zia Imran termed the selection of the Pakistani IT firm for the ‘Official Game’ of the ICC World Cup as a unique honour for the country. “The selection of a Pakistani IT firm for designing the ‘Official Game’ of the World Cup is a huge honour for the country besides being a pointer towards the strength of the IT industry in Pakistan.
Earlier, Mr. Babar Ahmed, CEO of Mindstorm, highlighted the salient features of the game. In his address, he said the selection of his company for designing the Official Game for the ICC World Cup was a rare honour and provided not just them but the entire nation a moment of pride.
He said his company was also proud and excited to be the architect of the official title for ICC’s Cricket World Cup. “Cricket has long been a subject closely linked to our organisation and the company is thrilled to take it to the next level and be a source of pride for the nation on the digital front,” he added.
Zia Imran said the Pakistani IT industry had a huge potential in IT applications and the industry was sure to go places because of the broad support provided by the PSEB through its programs successfully catering to needs of human capital, office space, marketing, company capability development, telecoms bandwidth, industry finance, public policy, strategy & research, and facilitation.
He further said the Pakistan IT companies had penetrated the international market at the back of high-quality services and competitive products and the selection of the Pakistani industry for designing the Official Game of the ICC World Cup was a reflection on the immense talent and potential for innovation possessed by our IT professionals.
Commenting on Mindstorm’s ICC game “Cricket Power”, Jehan Ara, President of the Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT & ITES (P@SHA) said that the fact that a young technology startup which was self-funded and had 100% Pakistani management and professionals, was able to achieve this landmark achievement, proved yet again that the Pakistani IT sector is vibrant, dynamic and able to conquer all hurdles to emerge as champions in cutting edge areas of technology. We are proud of Babar Ahmed and his team and others like them for continuing to keep us in the tech headlines. Award-winning products and companies from Pakistan have surprised and impressed the world with their talent and innovation and their ability to break all barriers of growth as was recently seen in AllWorldNetwork’s Fast Growth Pakistan 25 report. Ten out of the 25 were tech companies.
According to PSEB officials, global gaming industry has seen a meteoric rise over the past several years. The world market for gaming software is expected to be worth approximately $91.96 billion by 2015 as per various credible estimates. The video game industry in the U.S/Canada alone will reach $21.6 billion in sales by 2013. U.S Gaming Industry is expected to be over three times the size of recorded music industry. In the gaming market, mobile/online gaming segments are expected to grow significantly. In view of the stellar growth statistics of the Gaming Industry, it is pertinent to take steps to bolster the local Gaming Industry.
The Animation/Gaming Industry in Pakistan is characterized by young, energetic entrepreneurial individuals and continues to win laurels abroad due to their high quality, high impact work. In Malaysia, Pakistani information technology companies won seven awards at the 10th International Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) thereby securing the highest number of awards thus raising the profile of the country and bringing attention to the quality work being done in Pakistan. Applications developed by Pakistani gaming industry are consistently ranked among the top ten applications on Apple Apps Store. These homegrown achievements are laudable in view of the challenges faced by IT companies while operating in difficult local environment.
